2020 World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship (20 Th of 49 Events in the PGA TOUR Season)
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2020 World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship (20 th of 49 events in the PGA TOUR Season) Mexico City, Mexico February 20-23, 2020 Purse: $10,500,000 ($1,820,000) Club de Golf Chapultepec Par/Yards: 35-36—71/7,355 FedExCup Points: 550 (winner) Final-Round Notes – Sunday, February 23, 2020 Weather : Sunny, with a high of 82. Wind E at 5-10 mph. Final-Round Leaderboard Patrick Reed 69-63-67-67—266 (-18) Bryson DeChambeau 68-63-71-65—267 (-17) Jon Rahm 72-69-61-67—269 (-15) Erik van Rooyen 70-62-67-70—269 (-15) Rory McIlroy 65-69-68-68—270 (-14) Things to Know • Patrick Reed wins eighth PGA TOUR title and second World Golf Championships title • Reed required fewer than 100 putts for the second time this season • Bryson DeChambeau finished runner-up for the fourth time on the PGA TOUR • Jon Rahm equals best par-3 performance in the World Golf Championships • Erik van Rooyen records best PGA TOUR finish (T3) • Justin Thomas failed to convert his 12 th 54-hole lead/co-lead for the fourth time • Rory McIlroy records fifth top-5 in as many starts this season • Mexico’s Abraham Ancer and Carlos Ortiz each produce top-20 results Champion – After this week Player Patrick Reed Age 29 (August 5, 1990) FedExCup 5 OWGR Projected No. 8 Starts in event 7 To p-10s in event 2 (both victories) PGA TOUR Starts 211 PGA TOUR Wins 8 Starts in 2019-20 7 Top-10s in 2019-20 4 Patrick Reed (1st /-18) • Claims eighth PGA TOUR title, and his first since 2019 THE NORTHERN TRUST, in his 211 th start at age 29 years, 6 months, 18 days • With 550 FedExCup points for the win, moves to No. 5 in the FedExCup with 1,024 points, 379 points behind leader Justin Thomas; Has reached the TOUR Championship and finished in the top-30 of the FedExCup all but his first season on TOUR (54/2013, 21/2014, 12/2015, 3/2016, 22/2017, 22/2018, 9/2019) • Has come from behind in three of eight TOUR victories (2015 Sentry TOC, 2016 THE NORTHERN TRUST, 2020 WGC- Mexico Championship) • With the win, earns a spot in the field at the 2021 Sentry Tournament of Champions; Also earns 1,820 points towards making the 2020 U.S. Ryder Cup team and 550 points towards making the 2021 U.S. Presidents Cup team • Won the 2014 WGC-Mexico Championship but had not recorded a top-10 in the tournament until Sunday’s win • With his second win at this event (2014), becomes the fifth multiple winner of this event (Tiger Woods/7 times, Dustin Johnson/3 times, Ernie Els/twice, Phil Mickelson/twice) • Becomes 15 th multiple winner of World Golf Championships events • In three prior appearances at Club de Golf Chapultepec, finished T14/2019, T37/2018, T61/2017 • Prior to this win, recorded three top-10s in six starts this season including a runner-up at the Sentry Tournament of Champions where he fell in a playoff to Justin Thomas • All four winners of the WGC-Mexico Championship at Club de Golf Chapultepec are American players (Patrick Reed/2020, Dustin Johnson/2019 & 2017, Phil Mickelson/2018) • Required 98 putts for the week, the second time this season he has completed a tournament with less than 100 putts (Sentry Tournament of Champions/99 putts) • Required 45 1-putts for the week, six more than any other player; Ranked No. 1 in Strokes Gained: Putting (+11.824) Bryson DeChambeau (2nd /-17) • Finished runner-up for the fourth time in his career while seeking his sixth PGA TOUR title, and first since 2018 Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, in his 99 th PGA TOUR start • Was attempting to extend his streak of winning at least one PGA TOUR event to four consecutive seasons • Has now held the 36-hole lead/co-lead seven times without going on to win • Finished T56 (2019) in his lone prior appearance at the WGC-Mexico Championship • Best prior finish in five career World Golf Championships starts is a 30 th at the 2018 WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational Jon Rahm (T3/-15) • Started the day four back and jumped into a tie for the lead at 15-under with four birdies in his first five holes; even-par back nine left him three back of the champion • Was seeking to become first player from Spain to win WGC-Mexico Championship and fifth international winner • Matches best finish in nine World Golf Championships stroke-play events (T3/2017 WGC-Mexico Championship) • Across the second, third and fourth rounds, tied the PGA TOUR record for most consecutive par-3 birdies or better with six (eight players) • Equaled the best par-3 performance (8-under) in a World Golf Championships event (David Toms/2011 FedEx St. Jude Invitational, Richard Green/2008 FedEx St. Jude Invitational) • Projected to climb to No. 2 in the Official World Golf Ranking Erik van Rooyen (T3/-15) • Posts T3 for best PGA TOUR finish while seeking his first TOUR win in his 10 th start • Shared the lead at the turn but fell out of contention with a double bogey-birdie-bogey start to the back nine • Sat 3-over through his first nine holes of the tournament and played the subsequent 63 holes in 18-under • Required solo-second for PGA TOUR Special Temporary Membership • Was attempting to become the second South African to win a World Golf Championships and first since Ernie Els (2004, 2010 WGC-Mexico Championship) • Finished T36 in his lone prior start at the WGC-Mexico Championship in 2019 Miscellaneous Notes • Both Mexican players in the field finished inside the top 20, with Abraham Ancer (T12) and Carlos Ortiz (T16) each closing with 3-under 68; Previous best finish by a Mexican player at Chapultepec was T39 by Ancer in 2019; At the beginning of the week Ancer pledged $100 per birdie and $200 per eagle to the Casa de la Amistad para Ninos con Cancer. He notched 19 birdies for the week to contribute $1,900 to the child cancer organization • Rory McIlroy (5th /-14) recorded his eighth top-10 finish in the WGC-Mexico Championship, third-most behind Tiger Woods (13) and Sergio Garcia (9); Finish also marks his fifth top-5 in as many starts this season; Moves from No. 5 to No. 2 in the FedExCup; Has posted sub-70 scores in 14 of his last 16 rounds in WGC stroke-play events (dating to R1/2019 WGC-Mexico Championship); 60-under during this stretch • Hideki Matsuyama (T6/-13) notched his 45 th career top-10 finish in his 160 th TOUR start; Only other top-10 results in WGC events were wins at the 2016 HSBC Champions and 2017 FedEx St. Jude Invitational, plus a T9/2015 Dell Technologies Match Play • Tyrrell Hatton (T6/-13) won the 2019 Turkish Airlines Open on the European Tour then played one additional event before having wrist surgery; WGC-Mexico Championship marks first start since wrist surgery; Four top-20s in four appearances at WGC-Mexico Championship (T6/2020, T19/2019, T3/2018, 10 th /2017); His two best finishes in 15 World Golf Championships starts have come at Chapultepec (T6/2020, T3/2018) • Justin Thomas (T6/-13) headed into the final round with his 12 th 54-hole lead/co-lead in his PGA TOUR career, having converted eight times (most recent: 2019 THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES); Has finished inside the top 10 in four starts at Club de Golf Chapultepec (T6/2020, 9th /2019, 2 nd /2018, T5/2017); Retained his No. 1 position in the FedExCup standings with a 320-point lead over Rory McIlroy; Was attempting to become the first FedExCup standings leader to win the WGC-Mexico Championship since 2007 • Billy Horschel (T9/-12) fires a final-round 65 to post a top-40 finish for the first time in five starts at the WGC- Mexico Championship • Kevin Na (T9/-12) posts his best result since a playoff win at the 2019 Shriners Hospitals for Children Open • Brandt Snedeker (T22/-5) posts final-round 64, his lowest round on TOUR since 63/R3/2019 THE NORTHERN TRUST • Adam Scott (T26/-4), winner of last week’s The Genesis Invitational, followed a first round 74 with 68-68-70 • After an opening-round 76, defending champion Dustin Johnson (T48/E) followed with 71-67-70 • Three international players (Ryan Fox /New Zealand, Cameron Smith /Australia, Byeong Hun An /South Korea) made eagle at the par-4 first hole in the final round; No. 1 surrendered 10 eagles for the week • Of the 21 players making their WGC-Mexico Championship debut this week, eight are making their first start in a World Golf Championships event: Sebastian Muñoz (T14/-8), Carlos Ortiz (T16/-7), Scottie Scheffler (T26/-4), Lanto Griffin (T29/-3), Collin Morikawa (T42/-1), Zach Murray (T48/E), Lucas Herbert (T58/+4), Marcus Kinhult (T69/+13) Bogey-free rounds: R1 (0): None R2 (1): Erik van Rooyen (62) R3 (3): Scottie Scheffler (68), Billy Horschel (65), Justin Harding (67) R4 (4): Xander Schauffele (66), Sergio Garcia (66), Christiaan Bezuidenhout (67), Rafa Cabrera Bello (68) Hardest Hole for the week: Par-4 8 th (4.313) Easiest Hole for the week: Par-5 15th (4.455) Scoring Averages at Club de Golf Chapultepec: Front 9 Back 9 Total Cumulative R1: 35.889 36.500 72.389 -- R2: 34.653 35.625 70.278 71.333 R3: 34.444 35.306 69.750 70.806 R4: 34.569 35.028 69.597 70.503 2020 World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship (20 th of 49 events in the PGA TOUR Season) Mexico City, Mexico February 20-23, 2020 Purse: $10,500,000 ($1,820,000) Club de Golf Chapultepec Par/Yards: 35-36—71/7,355 FedExCup Points: 550 (winner) Final-Round Notes – Sunday, February 23, 2020 Weather : Sunny, with a high of 82.